Attack of the Mid-Majors

The gap between the haves and the have nots has slowly been increasing over the years in college football. One glance at this week's rankings and you'll notice that there are 3 Non-BCS teams in the coaches poll (Fresno State is ranked just outside of the Top 25 after their close loss to Wisconsin) and 4 in the AP.

The Mountain West Conference went 4-0 against the Pac 10 this weekend, and are 5-0 overall against the BCS conference this year. BYU annihilated UCLA 59-0. East Carolina has already knocked off two top 25 teams. We've seen the little guys knock off Pittsburgh and Oklahoma in BCS bowls over the past four years. Really, there are too many upsets to even mention in one space.

So that leaves the question... how are these teams pulling it off? I believe there are three reasons.

1. The talent pool is much deeper

Football is clearly the number one sport in America. Kids growing up now are more likely to drift towards football, especially in states like Florida and Texas. Basketball is really the only other sport that competes for their attention. With the 85 scholarship limit, the top programs can't sign all the talent, so it must go elsewhere.

2. Expanded coverage

A big selling point to recruits is television coverage. Kids want to play on TV. Fifteen years ago there were not nearly as many college football games on television as there are today. You can sit in front of the TV from noon until 2 AM and always have at least two games to watch. Television exposure is no longer limited to just the big time programs.

3. The spread offense

As we saw in the Appalachian State/Michigan game last year, the spread offense is a great talent equalizer. A less talented team is not going to win a game if their best guys are constantly going up against the superior team's best guys. In more conventional offenses, your best offensive skill players are going to be matched up against the defense's best players. In the spread offense you can create mismatches and have your best guy go against a 3rd or 4th string defensive back or linebacker. Eventually defenses will catch up with the spread scheme, and it may already be happening, but for now any spread offense has a chance to put up big numbers against a more talented defense as long as it as two or three playmakers.